Physical Geography

Geography is the study of Earth and the ways people live on it.
The five themes, or important categories, are: location, place, human/
environment interaction, movement and region. Physical geography is the study
of the earth’s landforms, water features, and atmosphere and how these change
over time. The Five Themes of GeographyLocationThere are two different ways to think about location. One way to
think about where a place is located is the place’s distance from another place.
This is called relative location. Another way to think about the location of a
place is its exact place on earth. In order to find an absolute location,
humans have imagined the world covered in imaginary lines. These lines create a
grid system, and by using the grid, people can determine a place’s absolute
location. The lines that make up the grid are called latitude and longitude
lines. The most important line of latitude is the Equator and the lines above
and below it are North/South lines. The most important line of longitude is the
Prime Meridian and the lines to the left and right of it are East/West lines. A
place’s absolute location, or coordinates, is how far north or south from the
Equator it is and how far east or west of the Prime Meridian it is. PlaceWhen geographers think of place, they ask, “What is it like
there?” This part of geography includes description of what a place is like.
The descriptions can vary. It is possible to describe a place’s natural
environment (like the trees, grass, weather) or its human characteristics (like
ethnicity, age, education) or a number of other things.Human/Environment
InteractionHuman/ Environment interaction is concerned with the
relationship between people and their environment. A particular environment may
help or harm the humans that live in it. Humans can either hurt or help the
environment. Another part of this theme is how humans adapt to their
environment.MovementThe theme of movement is focused on how and why people,
information, and goods move from place to place. Very few place, is any, are
completely separate from the rest of the world. Usually most places are
interdependent. Interdependentmeans
people or countries that rely on one another.RegionRegions are smaller parts of the
world that share some characteristic. There are two kinds of regions: uniform
and functional. A uniform region is a section of the world that shares a
characteristic other than location. For example, the Southwestern part of the
United States used to be a part of Mexico is a region because of a shared
culture and history. The other kind of region is a functional region. These are
places that are connected because of a central area they share. For example,
Oklahoma City and its suburbs, like Edmond and Yukon, are a functional region
because the road system and the airport connects them.Planet EarthThe Solar SystemEarth is part of a number of objects
that circle, or revolve, around the sun. The sun and the objects that circle
are called the solar system. Very large objects that circle the sun are called
planets and the sun has eight. The smallest planet is Mercury and the largest
is Jupiter. Sometimes there are objects that revolve around planets. These are
called moons. Not every planet has a moon, but Earth has one and Saturn has 22.
The solar system is crowded with small objects that revolve around the sun.
These objects, usually chunks of rock and metal, can be almost as big as
planets. They are called asteroids. There are a large number of asteroids in
between Mars and Jupiter. This part of the solar system is called the asteroid
belt. The Sun’s planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, Neptune.

The EarthEarth is the third planet from the
sun.. It is 93 million miles away. It is 8,000 miles around the Earth at the
Equator. Most of the Earth is covered in water. The part of the Earth that is
not covered in water is formed into large bodies of land called continents.
Surrounding both water and land is a blanket of gases around the Earth called
the atmosphere; this blanket extends about 1,000 miles above the surface.

Earth’s Spheres

AtmosphereGases that cover the EarthExtends a 1000 miles above the
ground. Composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon and other gases.HydrosphereAll the water on EarthIncludes both salt water and
freshwater bodies.LithosphereThe Earth’s crust. Includes continents, islands, and
ocean basins, or the land under the ocean.BiosphereLife of Earth.Includes all the people, animals,
plants that live on the Earth’s surface, near it, or in the atmosphere. Interesting Earth FactsAverage height of Earth’s land
above sea level 2,800 ftHighest point on Earth29,028 ftMount Everest, NepalLowest point on the Earth’s land1,312 BELOW sea levelDead Sea, IsraelAverage ocean depth12,450 feetDeepest part of the ocean35,800 feetMariana TrenchEarth StructureThere are three layers in the Earth.
The top layer is called the crust. It is thin. The crust is 3 to 30 miles deep.
The crust is broken up into plates, which floats on the second layer, the
mantle. The mantle is melted rock and is very, very hot. The mantle covers the
core of the Earth. The core is a solid ball of nickel and iron about 4,000
miles below the surface of the Earth.Forces of the EarthSince the plates are floating on
melted rock, they do not always stay in the same place. All plates move, but
some will move at different speeds at different times. This means that they can
bump into each other. When this occurs, it causes the surface of the Earth to
change. Since these changes occur under the Earth’s surface, they are called internal forces. These internal forces occur all over the Earth, including in the
oceans. One place where there is a lot of volcanic and earthquake activity is
at the edges of the Pacific ocean along North America and Asia. This area is called
the Ring of Fire.

Internal
Forces:Words to Know

EarthquakesTwo plates run against each otherRidgeTwo plates that have separated and molten rock pours out,
creating a high spotTrenchTwo plates bump together and one slips underneath the otherVolcanoA mountain formed when lava (molten rock) pours out of the
surface of the Earth. If the flow is blocked, it can build up pressure and
explode.FoldLayers of rock that have been bent.FaultCracks in the Earth’s crust.The surface of the Earth is also changed by forces that occur
above the Earth’s surface. These forces are called external forces and usually
are not as dramatic as volcanoes and earthquakes. Wind, water, and ice act on
the Earth’s crust. They wear it down through the process of weathering, or
breaking down rock, and erosion, or moving dirt and soil from one place to
another. External
Forces: Words to KnowWeatheringThe process that breaks down rockChemical weatheringRock that is broken down when water dissolves some of the
chemicals in rockPhysical weatheringRock that is broken down from large pieces into small pieces
through some force or pressure.ErosionWearing away of the Earth’s surface.Wind ErosionWind that picks up dirt, sand, and soil and moves it to another
place.Water erosionWater that wears away land over a period of time. Glacial erosionA large body of ice that carves away the Earth as it moves.LandformsThe natural features of the surface of the land are called
landforms. The largest landforms are the continents. Some of the continents are
separate from the others, while others are connected. For example, North
America is connected to South America through a small strip of land called an
isthmus. An isthmus is a narrow piece of land that connects two much larger
pieces of land. There are many other types of landforms, including mountains,
plateaus, and archipelagos. The floor of the ocean also has many of these
landforms.Water FeaturesOceans, seas, gulfs, and bays are made of saltwater and surround
continents. Oceans are the largest water bodies in the world. There are only
four: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic. The Pacific is the largest ocean.
It is bigger than all of the earth’s land combined. Smaller bodies of salt
water are called seas. Seas are partially enclosed by land. Gulfs and bays are
like seas, but are even smaller.Within the continents, there are other bodies of water. Usually,
they contain freshwater, not freshwater. This means that they can be used by
humans for drinking and farming. Only 3% of the world’s water resources are
freshwater. Some types of freshwater features are lakes, streams, and rivers.
Rivers usually start in mountains and eventually flow into the ocean. Another important source of freshwater is groundwater.
Groundwater is water found under the land. This water seeps into the ground
through rainfall and melting snow. GlaciersGlaciers are large masses of frozen water found in polar regions
and in high mountains. Glaciers contain 2% of the world’s freshwater. The ice
cap in Antarctica has more freshwater than all of the rest of the world.

Water CycleThe water cycle is the movement of water from ocean to air to
ground to ocean.Water evaporates, or changes from a liquid to gas. There is a
lot of evaporation in the oceans and this water vapor rises and floats away.
When the water cools, it creates clouds. Some clouds release their moisture as precipitation, or rain, ice, or hail.
Once the rain hits the ground, gravity causes it to soak into the ground or
move downhill. Much of the water eventually flows back into the oceans.ResourcesMuch of the Earth contains materials that people can use. There
materials are called natural resources. There can be divided into two kinds of
resources: renewable and nonrenewable. Renewable resources are those that can
be replaced. Forests and animals are examples. Nonrenewable resources cannot be
replaced. These include minerals, or materials from the Earth that are not
living or made from living things. Another important category of nonrenewable
resources is fossil fuels. Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and gas, were
formed animal and plant remains millions of years ago. Resources are not evenly divided everywhere. This creates
interdependence between places. Countries that need resources can import them,
or bring the resources from another place either by buying or trading them. The
country that has the extra resources to sell or trade exports them when they
send them to another country. Sometimes different regions cannot agree about
resources and conflict can break out. Earth Sun RelationshipsRotation and
RevolutionThe Sun warms the Earth and allows life. The Earth’s atmosphere
is very important in this process. The atmosphere traps some of the heat from
the sun like a blanket. This is called the greenhouse effect. Without this
effect, the earth would be too cold for most living things. Not all places get
the same amount of heat and light from the Sun. One reason for this is the
Earth is tilted on its axis. Because some parts of the Earth do not point
toward the sun as much as other places, this affects the temperature or hot or
cold something is. The Earth spins on its axis once every 24 hours. This
rotation causes day and night.As the Earth rotates on its axis, it also spins around the Sun.
One trip around the sun is called a revolution. It takes 1 year, or 365 ¼ days,
for the Earth to circle the sun. The tilt of the Earth and its revolution
create the seasons. Earth’s SeasonsEquinoxMarch 21 (Spring)September 23 (Fall)Sun is directly over the Equator. Day and night are the same
length. Summer SolsticeJune 21 Sun shines more on the Northern Hemisphere. Days are longer
than nights. June 21 is the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere.Winter SolsticeDecember 22Sun shines more on the Southern Hemisphere. Days are shorter
than nights. December 22 is the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere..Climate

Wind and Ocean
CurrentsWinds that blow in fairly constant patterns exist all over the
Earth and are called prevailing winds. These winds can move cold air to warm
places and warm air to cold places. Oceans have streams of warm water and cold
water called currents. These work a lot like prevailing winds. Both prevailing
winds and ocean currents affect climate in places near the oceans. Another way
oceans affect climate is by keeping the temperature stable. In places near the
ocean, there usually is not a big difference between its high temperature and
its low temperature. \Factors Affecting
ClimateClimate is the type of weather a place has over a long period of
time. We describe climate based on the temperature (how hot or cold),
precipitation (how much water it gets), and vegetation (what type of plants) a
place has. Things that affect temperature are how far away a place is from the
Equator, from the coast, and from mountains. Things that affect precipitation
are whether a place receives moist or dry air and which side of a mountain a
place is. Things that affect vegetation is the temperature and the
precipitation. If a place is near a coast, then the temperature will be more
stable and usually receives more moisture. If a place is on the windward side
of a mountain, it will receive much rain because the mountain acts like a comb,
pulling water from the air. If the place is on the other side of the mountain
it will be really dry. The prevailing winds and ocean currents near an area
have a big impact. For example, Europe seems like it should be colder because
it is far from the Equator, but the ocean current in the Northern Atlantic
around Europe is originally from the Gulf of Mexico. This makes Europe much
warmer than its distance from the Equator would suggest. A place’s temperature
also depends on its elevation. The higher up a place is, the colder it is.Physical Geography Unit Summary QuestionsAnswer the
following questions.1. What are the 5
themes of Geography?2. What are the 8
planets?3. Translate:a. Bio means_________.b. Hydro means____________.c. Litho means____________.d. Atmo means_____________.4. Sketch the
layers of the earth and label whether that label is liquid, gas, or solid. 5. What is the
difference between weathering and erosion?6. Name a country
that is an island.7. Name a country
that is an isthmus.8. Name a country
or state that is an archipelago.9. Read the
section on water features and glaciers. How much of the earth freshwater is
available for humans to use?10. Is it
renewable or nonrenewable?a. Ironb. petroleumc. woodd. cowse. windf. diamondsg. gold11. Resources are
not evenly divided. Is that good or bad? Why?12. What is a
rotation?13. What is a
revolution?14. I need some
help coming up with a good way to teach about ocean currents and prevailing
winds. Help me come up with a good example to explain them. 15. What type of
climate does Washington coast have? 16. What type of
climate does Chad have?17. What type of
climate does Nepal have?18. What type of
climate does France have?19. What type of
climate does Florida have?20. What type of climate does the east side of the Andes have?